The Television Critics Association summer press tour is a TV columnist's best friend, as the annual event provides shockingly easy access to network executives, showrunners, on-air talent and, yes, even other journalists, who all descend upon a luxury hotel in Beverly Hills with a single but complicated goal: to make sense of the upcoming fall television schedule.

Sometimes for all the flashing lights, sizzle reels, and pretty people who cross the stage, networks let slip some actual information.

His revealing sight gag provided the most memorable moment of the entire press tour — even if the sight of Tolan in his skivvies is sure to haunt us forever. In fact, networks bringing their shows to press tour ought to find video tape of the "Rescue Me" session to learn see how Tolan and his cohort Denis Leary endeared themselves to critics through a strict policy of no B.S. and outlandish humor.

MTV has tapped Mike Judge to revive "Beavis and Butt-head" and may bring back "Daria," as well. TeenNick touted its huge ratings for a nostalgia block featuring "Rugrats," "Clarissa Explains It All," and other 1990s classics. And VH1 is putting together fresh episodes of "Pop-Up Video."

Even old-school legend Jerry Lewis — the day before he was dumped from his own Muscular Dystrophy telethon — scored big laughs with perfectly executed jabs straight out of the Catskills resort circuit. Those three pros proved that even jaded critics dulled by days of presentations in windowless banquet halls will crack up in the presence of proper comedic chops.

But some comics, like Bill Maher and Jonah Hill, missed that memo, brought comparatively tired acts and instead resorted to the ill-advised technique of blaming the critics for not having a sense of humor. At such moments, it is nice to wield the power of the pen.

6. AMC is experiencing an image problem — just don't blame Jon Hamm When AMC left Comic-Con two weeks ago, the network seemed to be riding high: rabid crowds at its "Walking Dead" panel to go hand in hand with huge ratings for the fourth season of "Breaking Bad."

Because it comes right after Comic-Con, where revelations big and small are constant, TCA summer press tour comes alive when previously unknown scraps of information get spilled. While we never would have guessed that Kutcher and Danson's new TV names would be Walden Schmidt and D.B. Russell, respectively, we're just glad to have been the first to be let in on the secret.